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Dec. 01, 2015 | 05:10 PM (Last updated: December 01, 2015 | 07:27 PM)

Russia may freeze Turkish Stream gas project: Gazprom sources

A file photo taken on March 4, 2014 shows a gas pipe-line running in Sevastopol. Russian state giant Gazprom on November 25, 2015 said it had halted gas deliveries to Ukraine after Kiev failed to make upfront payments for more supplies. AFP PHOTO / VLADIMIR DOKIN

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Russia may freeze work on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project for several years in retaliation against Ankara for the shooting down of a Russian air force jet, two sources at Russian gas giant Gazprom told Reuters.

Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Tuesday that no decisions had been made on the project and on a nuclear power station that Russia is building in Turkey.

Freezing work on the pipeline – intended to pump Russian gas, via Turkey, into southeastern Europe while bypassing Ukraine – would have a more symbolic than practical effect because the project is already beset by delays and doubts over its viability.

Any freeze would also not affect another Russian project to boost gas exports to the north of Europe.

Ulyukayev said last month that Turkish Stream could be among the projects affected by sanctions against Turkey, but he did not specify how.

In September, a group of European companies signed an agreement with Gazprom to expand its Nord Stream pipeline so that it can deliver increased volumes directly from Russia to Germany, also without pumping them through Ukraine.